When perceiving certain aromas of beer, you may hear people refer to “esters” and “phenols.” The fact of the matter is, esters and phenols are quite different, though they can be present at the same time. Let’s take a look at some of the main causes in the brewing process.

Yeast grows on a number of plants and also drifts through the air. In the old days people fermented things without even knowing what was causing it. There is no reason we cannot make use of wild yeast in our beers and see what we end up with at the end!

Early American beer started with ales from the British settlers; porters, stouts, and pale ales (once kilning took hold as general practice in 1703). It is common knowledge that most of the founding fathers were homebrewers, with George Washington being one of the most famous of them.